re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion(Posted by davesdawgs on 2/18/13 at 11:48 am to yurintroubl)

quote:Dowager is going to have to work harder to keep things light.

Good luck with that. I get it. The writers want to create this theme of life goes on as the survivors overcome adversity/tragedy while tradition fades in a modern, evolving world. Basically they want to show how conservative tradition has: stifled women's rights/development, held back acceptance of homosexuality and made it difficult for unhappy married couples to get out of relationships, etc. Meanwhile the one harmonious marriage/relationship between Mary and Matthew they contrive as syrupy sweet and then kill off Matthew.

As such here is the direction I would take the show: Matthew recovers from the auto accident, Tom eventually finds a good woman and remarries, Edith finally finds a good man and true love, Thomas dies from AIDS, the flirty old guy at the fair gets his dick cut off, the aunt and uncle in Scotland learn to love each other, Robert goes to tech school and learns abbey management, Rose gets STDs from fricking around, Downton Abbey is recognized nationally in England as a model for traditional transition into a modern world.

re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion(Posted by yurintroubl on 2/18/13 at 11:52 am to davesdawgs)

quote:As such here is the direction I would take the show: Matthew recovers from the auto accident, Tom eventually finds a good woman and remarries, Edith finally finds a good man and true love, Thomas dies from AIDS, the flirty old guy at the fair gets his dick cut off, the aunt and uncle in Scotland learn to love each other, Robert goes to tech school and learns abbey management, Rose gets STDs from fricking around, Downton Abbey is recognized nationally in England as a model for traditional transition into a modern world.

re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion(Posted by Kafka on 2/18/13 at 11:57 am to yurintroubl)

Re replacing actors: Supposedly when Dallas was super-popular and Larry Hagman was holding out for more money, there was a plan in place to have JR in a car wreck that forced him to undergo plastic surgery. When the bandages came off we would see another actor (Robert Culp).

I'm not sure, but I think this may actually have been done on some daytime soaps over the years.

re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion(Posted by DallasTiger11 on 2/18/13 at 12:08 pm to Kafka)

Daytime soaps change actors all the time and retain the same character. They pretty much have to unless that actor devotes his or her life to the show.

I can't decide whether it would have been better to change actors or not. I think I would have preferred if he went away for a time and then they could have had written him out in some sort of character decision, not some ridiculous car accident when he was going 20 MPH on a dirt road. For example, they could have let Robert and Matthew's fight over the Abbey escalate where Matthew leaves and refuses to come back. Building on that basic plot line would have been tremendously better than this abortion.

One more thing and I know I have been ranting the last few posts. I understand Stevens put them in a tough position. It always is if one of your characters is refusing to return. This is what makes TV shows so fragile. Imagine if Jon Hamm or Bryan Cranston did this. But they should have NEVER killed Sybil right after she had her baby if they knew they were going to kill Matthew RIGHT after Mary had his. The juxtaposition here just flat out did not work.

quote:I think I would have preferred if he went away for a time and then they could have had written him out in some sort of character decision, not some ridiculous car accident when he was going 20 MPH on a dirt road

i agree that they shouldve sent him off for business or some shite so he could still have the option of coming back, but i didnt find the car crash unbelievable at all

it looked like the vehicles didnt hit each other at all

he was distracted while driving, saw the truck too late, yanked the wheel to the right, the car flipped, landed on him, he dead

i've heard people say it was unrealistic but i dont see that at all

now, i will say this and you people may disagree with me

but the last few episodes i was growing very weary of how fricking cheesy matthew was acting with mary. I love my wife and all, but the shite coming out of his mouth was such terrible writing that i think i was ready for him to go away for a while

i didnt think it would be forever, but oh well

ideally, he wouldve been called to india because one of the other "heirs" may have popped back up and he wouldve had to spend a lot of time there.

He wouldve cleared up the heir situation in that the person india was an impostor and the money was indeed matthew's, and then if the actor decided no matter what he wasnt coming back, matthew dies of some disease or elephant stomping in india, if the actor decides "you know what, i made a stupid decision," he comes back for season 5.

Why not just have Matthew mysteriously disappear and write it in later? Have him write letters to Marry or Robert explaining his distant situation? Do a storyline about anything/ something but don't kill his character. The fans would have held Stevens in higher regard and it would have possibly allowed for a dramatic return a few seasons down the line if Stevens decided to return?